I like old video game books. There's the obvious practical aspect of having tips available, and then there's the nostalgia of reading reviews and information written with the enthusiasm and perspective of the moment instead of the often revisionist video game history passed around the internet. This series, though, I found to offer something kind of different and unique from most of what's out there.

The Ultimate Unauthorized Nintendo Games Strategies series does have mini reviews and tips. What stands out is that it also contains a synopsis of each game's back story and controls, even highlighting controls omitted from the actual instructions. These books are essentially instruction manual compendiums for hundreds of NES games, which retroactively makes them more desirable to me in an age where manuals are difficult to get and increasingly expensive. Sure, a lot of the info here is now free on GameFAQs, but it looks like PDFs of this are available for free on various sites now as well.

As far as I know, there are 3 NES volumes, a Game Boy volume, and a Super NES volume.

Just wanted to talk about them for a second, as a lot of my friends also really like these and started picking up their own. Any old game-related books anyone else would like to talk about? I also enjoy the How to Win at... series (they're hokey, but fun) and others...